Agassi to Raducanu: 'Be comfortable in your own identity' — SkimNews
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- Emma Raducanu told Uniqlo she was "especially intrigued by the passage where he got out of his slump in the late 1990s" from Agassi's 2009 autobiography, calling much of it "so relatable" as she plots a return to top-level tennis.
- Andre Agassi said his goal in writing the memoir was simply that "if one person read it and it gave them hope... then it was a success for me," adding that hearing it resonate 17 years later "does make me feel good."
- Raducanu reached a career-high ranking of 10 in July 2022 but has since slipped to 98th in the world, missing this year's US Open due to a stress fracture in her lower right leg after earlier missing two-and-a-half months with a post-viral illness.
- Agassi urged Raducanu to "be comfortable in your own identity inside of that - not what people say," warning that modern players face more relentless scrutiny than his generation, who "could just put down the paper and not read it."
- Agassi reflected that his own father's pressure led him to play with "fear" until he fell from world number one to 141st, after which "I had more success from that point forward than I did playing out of fear."
- Agassi will captain Team USA against Team Europe at the Laver Cup at The O2 in London from 25-27 September, calling the event a spectacular showcase that players prioritize despite packed schedules.
Why it matters: Five years on from her US Open triumph, Raducanu's ranking has fallen from a career-high of 10 to 98th amid a string of physical setbacks, and she's turning to a player who himself climbed back from 141st in the world to win eight Grand Slams. Agassi's emphasis on identity over results and on parental pressure speaks directly to a young athlete whose trajectory has been shaped by intense external attention since age 18.
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